Oyster harvesting resumes in Mississippi after long hiatus

Captain Richard Bosarge steers his 42-foot boat, the Royster, to the Henderson Point reefs near Pass Christian. It’s a small city 65 miles east of New Orleans, on the Gulf of Mexico. 

Bosarge and his three-man crew are going to harvest oysters. But this isn’t like past seasons. Oysters used to be big business on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, but the industry has fallen on hard times. Hurricane Katrina, the BP oil spill and other disasters have dealt blow after blow to Mississippi oysters. The state hasn’t allowed any harvesting of wild oysters from reefs in the Mississippi Sound since 2018. This year, though, the reefs will be open for two short harvest periods.

“It’s sort of Twilight Zone-ish at this point, because what used to be 100 or more boats dredging is cut down to, believe it or not, two or three,” Bosarge said.

That’s because oyster harvesting has not been allowed for five years in Mississippi. Fishermen used to collect over 2 million pounds of oysters per year here, but since the mid-2000s the industry has cratered.

Bosarge actually had to buy back oystering equipment he’d sold off when he heard the reefs would reopen.

“It’s been so long as we’ve done it,” Bosarge said. “And it’s kind of like we want to see it with our own eyes, because we never thought we’d get to do this again on our reefs.”

Mississippi oysters hit their breaking point in 2019, when fresh river water released through a Louisiana spillway poured into Mississippi’s coastal waters to prevent flooding. The influx lowered the salinity in the sound to a level at which oysters could not survive.

“There was very few oysters left after the 2019 openings in the sound,” Pruett said.

Jessica Pruett is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern Mississippi. She’s studied the state’s fluctuating oyster population and efforts to revive the species.

Since Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi has spent $55 million to restore oyster reefs; taking measures like adding chunky limestone and other material in the sound where oyster larvae can attach and grow. Pruett says some of those efforts seem to be paying off.

“There’s adult oysters somewhere that are producing larvae that are settling on the reef,” said Pruett. “So that is hopeful.”

Rick Burris is chief scientific officer at Mississippi’s Department of Marine Resources. He said limiting this year’s oyster harvest will protect the reefs from overfishing.

“This won’t do any damage to the population, but give a little shot in the arm to some of our fishermen and some of our processors, especially right before the holidays, you know, to be able to get some Mississippi oysters on the market,” Burris said.

Once Captain Bosarge’s boat, the Royster, reached the reef, he lowered an oyster dredge into the blue-green water. It’s a harvesting tool that looks like a hollow pyramid with a net attached to its base that scoops up oysters. 

When he pulled the dredge up, the Royster’s crew emptied it onto a metal table and oyster clusters spilled out.

They filled 10 burlap sacks with the best-looking oysters and toss the rest overboard. Bosarge will end up selling the sacks directly to eager customers for $80 each. It’s not much profit, considering he has to pay his crew for the day’s work and cover boat fuel and maintenance costs. 

“We’re trying to make it work,” said Bosarge. “We’re trying to make it to where, if we can retail them, everybody can make a decent pay.”

He’s brought a couple of sacks home, too, and got to try his catch.

“They’re good and fat,” Bosarge said. “They got good salt to them, and they’re quite delicious.”